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"Media and telecom need to cooperate more" Interview on convergence with Johan Lindén from Sveriges Television
Eurescom mess@ge wanted to know how European broadcasters view convergence and talked to Johan Lindén from Sveriges Television (SVT), the national television broadcaster in Sweden. Mr Lindén is commissioning editor for news and current affairs at SVT. As an active proponent of convergence, he is also a member of the Advisory Committee of EU research project NM2 (New Media for a New Millennium). What is your interpretation of convergence? Convergence is a revolution not an evolution. With the merge of print, audio and visuals, content providers can extract the very best of every media and use the tools to tailor the message. Players who grasp this will prevail, and the others will disappear. What is the impact of convergence in the ICT area on media and content? Well, it’s massive. The last three years SVT completely has changed its production flow due to the developments in the ICT area. Almost every pitch made in-house has more or less converged elements. As a public service broadcaster we see it as a challenge to find converged elements in all our genres from news to drama to enhance the message – be it a thriller drama of a terror attack or the news reports on the killing of a foreign minister. Which convergence-related activities are currently happening at Sveriges Television? We still have a lot to do in order to reorganise our production flow and we have some large investments to do in server capacity and other production related areas. On the creative side, as I said, almost every creative mind is set on convergence and how to best use the new possibilities. We primarily operate on the web and on 3G to enhance our services. Right now as we speak I’m considering a pitch for a programme about next year’s election. The programme is, so to speak, highly converged and is broadcasted on television, on phones and on the internet, and of course it’s possible to download it in bits and pieces. In a couple of weeks we will launch a large investment in the current affairs sector with 110 programmes where the staff work together with the audience in making the rundown and the content of the programmes. We will use television, Internet and phones to interact with the audience - it's even hard to talk about audience. Convergence on the creative side also includes a merge with the audience, they are becoming more of co-workers than a passive audience. What is the impact of convergence on the future central multimedia device in your living room? I already have built me a multi-media center that transmits music (iTunes) text, radio, television, movies, my pictures and my home-made documentaries and rock hits to every screen and speaker in my house. Wireless of course, and I manage everything with my mobile phone. The impact is enormous. I consume much more and in a completely different way since I time-shift everything. Scheduled media consumption is but a memory. I guess that Micsosoft’s mediacenter will have this effect on a lot of people and I’m waiting for Apple to make it a pleasure to have a converged living room where ever you go. How will convergence change the media and the telecoms industry sector? Convergence is here now, and the window is open accordingly to every markets proliferation of broadband, wired and wireless. Korea and Scandinavia are the most converged spheres, and we will have the first really converged creative solutions. As I see it, media and telecom need to cooperate more. We have a lot to learn from one another. Money is thrown down the drain on bad ideas in both camps. I really think that Europe’s telecoms and media corporations should have a common creative think tank with some operative goals. And if we put down half the amount of funds that Hollywood does in bad movies, Europe will be the next profitable creative cluster in the world for decades. What should be done in Europe on the regulatory level to protect the interests of all stakeholders and to make convergence a driver of economic growth? We should be less afraid. Deregulate and change our regulations on creative rights. I think that all talk about protection makes it harder to secure future stakes. There is much more money around the corner than in the archives. I think there is a lot to learn from the record industry and its embarrassing struggle against development. It’s a no-win situation. You cannot fight against the good things that come to people with the developments in the ICT area. You cannot fight against convergence. It’s an organic revolution. The interview was conducted by Milon Gupta. Further information on Sveriges Television (SVT) is available at http://svt.se (in Swedish) Please send us your comments on this article. |
